Untamed Youth (1957)

2.0? Come on - it's better than that!, 11 December 2009

Untamed Youth is the story of a couple of sisters headed to California to make their fortunes in show business. Along the way, the pair are picked-up on a trumped-up charge and sentenced to serve 30 days hard labor on a cotton farm. The sisters aren't alone – the farm is teaming with young people who are little more than slave labor for the less than upstanding cotton plantation owner.

This early teen exploitation film is an absolute blast. The IMDb rating of 2.0 is criminally low. It's not perfect, but it is better than a 2.0 rating would indicate. I feel sorry for anyone who can't watch a movie like Untamed Youth and enjoy it for what it is. You can't take this stuff seriously. I suppose part of the reason behind the low rating is that Untamed Youth appeared on Mystery Science Theater 3000. There are far too many people out there who foolishly assume that if a movie appeared on MST3K, it must be bad. That's just not the case. An interesting (albeit predictable) plot, Mamie Van Doren, rock-n-roll, a scandalous subplot involving unmarried pregnancy (racy stuff), the train-wreck of a relationship/marriage between the judge and the plantation owner that's impossible not to "enjoy", fights, dancing, a good baddie (John Russell is excellent), the always cute Lori Nelson, Eddie Cochran (though I admit he does very little for me), a sense of fun about the whole thing – it's one cool movie!

A few other thoughts – first, Mamie can't sing. Every song she belts out sounds just like the one before. Call me crazy, but I don't think she was hired for her vocal talents. Second, what was in that dog food they were feeding the kids? Must have been something good for them – pickin' cotton all day and rock-n-rolling all night. Third, it's hard to believe that Lori Nelson made this AFTER she made Revenge of the Creature. I would have thought that movie might have done more for her career. Third, Mamie in the shower – wow!

7/10

The Monolith Monsters (1957)

"From infinity they come. Meteors!", 23 September 2009

The residents of the small California desert town are under attack. The fragments of a meteor that struck nearby the community of San Angelo possess the strange capability of growing to skyscraper proportions when activated by water. The alien monoliths crumble under their own weight, shattering into even more pieces capable of growing and destroying everything in their path. But the danger goes beyond the destruction caused by the falling rock formations. Any living being that comes into contact with the monoliths is turned into stone. It's up to geologist Dave Miller (Grant Williams) and a band of plucky locals to find a way to stop the threat to San Angelo and, ultimately, the world.

I just love these 1950s era Universal sci-fi/horror movies. They're so much fun to watch. From the steady, enjoyable cast (headlined by Grant Williams and Lola Albright) to the crisp, clean black and white cinematography to the familiar but effective stock monster music, The Monolith Monsters is the kind of movie that never fails to provide a great deal of entertainment value given its relative modest budget. I get a kick out of the number of Universal films from this era that take place in some small, remote South Western desert town like San Angelo (you can thank Jack Arnold for the desert setting). It's a perfect location or this kind of movie. The Monolith Monsters also features some nice special effects. I'm sure it was difficult task to make rocks look menacing. The scene where one towering rock formation after another rises from the desert floor and crushes a small farm is very effective. Another plus for The Monolith Monsters is the intelligent script (again, you can thank Jack Arnold for this). Sure, the movie is filled with a lot scientific mumbo-jumbo, but in this case, it actually has an air of believability to it. Finally, The Monolith Monsters benefits greatly from the steady hand of director John Sherwood. He may have only directed three movies, but he capably pulls all of the elements I've mentioned together with nice pacing and interesting camera shots to create a rock solid (pun intended) movie experience. Overall, it's a job well done.

7/10

The Black Scorpion (1957)

"What's the tequila for?", 28 August 2009

The Black Scorpion is yet another example of the big bug movie craze of the 1950s. And as far as these movies go, it's not a half bad example. The plot centers on American geologist Hank Scott (Richard Denning) and his Mexican counterpart Artur Ramos (Carlos Rivas) who are investigating the aftermath of a volcanic eruption in Mexico. They soon discover that that the eruption opened a fissure in the earth's surface through which giant scorpions are emerging and terrorizing the countryside. Along the way, they'll meet Scott's love interest played by Mara Corday, an annoying pest of a boy named Juanito, a bevy of concerned Mexican officials, and dozens of venom-dripping gigantic scorpions. They'll also have to come up with a way to stop the creatures before they rampage through Mexico City.

The highlight of The Black Scorpion is without a doubt the stop motion scorpions. Willis O'Brien, of King Kong fame, gets most of the credit, but Pete Peterson did the lion's share of the work. Insects like scorpions are particularly well suited for stop motion animation. The jerky movements of the animation is well-suited to match the natural motion of the scorpions. The first attack on the linemen, the descent into the fissure, and the final showdown in the bull ring are all wonderful examples of the excellent job of animation done on The Black Scorpion. My biggest complaint with the scorpions is the all too frequent close-ups of their faces. They look terrible. The drooling, motionless faces don't fit with the otherwise excellent special effects. Seeing the close-ups once or twice might have been fine, but after about a dozen shots of scorpion puppet faces literally dripping with venom, it gets to be ridiculous.

As for the rest of the film, while nothing may be overly spectacular, it is immanently watchable. For a fan of 50s big bug sci-fi, The Black Scorpion is a lot of fun. It's also nice to see a movie from this period set in a place like Mexico. In most of these 50s sci-fi films, you would think that there's nothing beyond the borders of the U.S.A. The acting is okay. The three leads (Denning, Rivas, and Corday) give solid, but not necessarily memorable, performances. The direction is likewise solid but not overly spectacular. The film's pacing is nice with few dull spots to slow things down. I suppose director Edward Ludwig could have built a bit more tension before revealing his giant scorpions, but it's not like we didn't know they were coming anyway. Like I said to begin this, The Black Scorpion isn't a half bad way to spend almost 90 minutes. I'll give it a 6/10.

6/10

Pharaoh's Curse (1957)

The very definition of plodding, 6 August 2009

The soul of an ancient mummy is transferred to one of his followers so that he might punish everyone involved in the desecration of his tomb. The soul transference makes the young man age at a tremendous pace until he himself resembles a mummy. One by one, the blood is drained from those involved in the dig.

To be as brief as possible, Pharaoh's Curse is quite the lackluster affair. While the movie does present a few good, original ideas (blood sucking mummy's, soul transference, interesting make-up effects, the arm ripping scene, etc.) and a few atmospheric moments, the direction and pace are the very definition of plodding. To make matters even worse, the first 15 of the film's relatively short 66 minute runtime consist of nothing much more than padding. I usually go for these slow moving mummy movies, but Pharaoh's Curse tests even my patients. The cast helps very little. With only one exception (Ziva Rodann is the lone bright spot – wish the movie could have focused more on her mysterious character), the cast is as dull as the screenplay. Finally, I don't know whose idea it was to put the mummy-looking servant in what appears to be pajamas, but it's a laughable, ridiculous look for a creature that supposed to instill fear in the audience.

Despite my mostly negative comments on the Pharaoh's Curse, I'm going to rate it a 4/10. Not a good rating to be sure, but generous given all the problems I have with the movie.

4/10

The Giant Claw (1957)

"A bird as big as a Battleship!", 29 October 2007

While doing a test flight to help with the calibration of a new radar installation, pilot and engineer Mitch MacAfee (Jeff Morrow) is buzzed by something that shouldn't be in the area. The radar didn't pick it up so no one in the military brass believes his story. They change their tune when airplanes start getting knocked out of the air by some sort of UFO that doesn't show up on radar. MacAfee, with the help of mathematician Sally Caldwell (Mara Corday), comes up with a crazy idea and goes in search of his UFO. What he finds is a giant, strange looking bird-like creature from another galaxy.

It had been years (decades even) since I last watched this movie. While I may not have remembered much about the plot or anything else, there's no way I or anyone else could forget the bird-like creature in The Giant Claw. It's hard to forget something like that. If you don't believe me, google an image and see for yourself. It's got to be one of the silliest looking creatures ever put on film. What's even more amazing is the time and effort someone put into this thing. With flaring nostrils and moving eyes, it's evident that some technician put a lot of energy into building it.

Other than the creature, as goofy as it is, there's not much to see here. The plot is standard (or slightly below) 1950s stuff. The scientific mumbo-jumbo is thick and heavy by the movie's end. I'm no scientist myself, but The Giant Claw's "science" sounded particularly ridiculous. And the standard 1950s romance is all but nauseating in this one. I just don't see how anyone bought the relationship between Morrow and Corday. With his Bryle Cream infused hair, he looks (and was) old enough to be her father.

5/10

Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957)

So Mr. Hyde was some sort of werewolf/vampire combo monster?, 28 October 2007

On her 21st birthday, Janet Smith (Gloria Talbott) discovers she has inherited an estate and a large sum of money. She's suddenly a wealthy woman about to be wed to the man of her dreams, George Hastings (John Agar). But she learns something else. She learns her father's secret. She discovers she is the daughter of the infamous Dr. Jekyll. And she begins having vivid nightmares of killing people in the most horrible of ways. She wakes to find herself covered in blood, her clothes torn, and her shoes muddy. Has she somehow inherited a dark, split-personality from her father that turns her into a snarling maniac?

For anyone who has seen both Daughter of Dr. Jekyll and Universal's She-Wolf of London, am I alone in comparing the two? I hate to give too much away about either movie, but there's no denying the similarities – two women about to be married, both under the impression that they turn into killers when the moon is full, slowly being driven mad, yet neither is responsible for the acts they are accused. It's too much of a coincidence to be just dumb luck. Oddly enough, though, I prefer Daughter of Dr. Jekyll to She-Wolf of London. It's not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it is slightly more enjoyable to me than the earlier movie. Chief among the reasons that I prefer this movie is the female lead. June Lockhart is one of my biggest complaints with She-Wolf of London. Gloria Talbott is far more believable in the similar role.

My biggest complaint with Daughter of Dr. Jekyll is the changes it makes to the Jekyll/Hyde storyline. Hyde is now referred to as a werewolf that had to be staked through the heart to kill him. Huh? So now he's some sort of werewolf/vampire creature? News to me! And I never quite understood how his daughter was supposed to have inherited his "curse". Wasn't Dr. Jekyll's "curse" self-induced? It doesn't seem that something that could be passed from one generation to the next.

5/10

Beginning of the End (1957)

"Where do I get off asking the Regular Army for help with a bunch of oversize grasshoppers?", 8 October 2007

Bert I. Gordon really missed with this one. For a movie that features a band of giant, mutant grasshoppers terrorizing the Midwest, Beginning of the End is very dull. So dull in fact that I had to wake myself three or four times, reverse the movie, and start over again. With droopy eyes, I finally finished the 76 minute movie in 2.5 hours.

It's disappointing really because I've really come to enjoy B.I.G.'s low-budget brand of movie-making. Even when his movies aren't very good in the traditional sense, they're still usually good for a laugh or two. Not here. Likewise, I've come to really enjoy the giant bug movies of the 50s. Whether it's an ant, a spider, or a mantis, these movies are a fun watch. I wish B.I.G. could have done the same with grasshoppers.

3/10

I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)

"I'm going to TRANSFORM him, and unleash the savage instincts that lie hidden within", 8 October 2007

Tony Rivers (Michael Landon) is a troubled teen. His quick temper has way of getting him in trouble. At the insistence of teachers and his girlfriend, he agrees to see a psychiatrist. Unfortunately for Tony, his doctor isn't interested in helping him as much as he is in using Tony as part of his experiments. He sees Tony as the perfect specimen to test his theories on hypnotic regression. But his experiments have a dramatic and horrific effect on Tony, turning him into a snarling werewolf.

Despite what I consider to be a ridiculous name, I Was a Teenage Werewolf is quite an enjoyable movie. In fact, it's much better than I ever expected for a Teen Angst / Horror movie starring Michael Landon. While a lot of the film is terribly predictable with some very obvious foreshadowing, it's still a lot of fun – much more fun than its 3.9 IMDb rating would indicate. There are some surprisingly effective scenes in the woods once the werewolf makes his appearance, including one vicious attack on a dog. And, I Was a Teenage Werewolf is easily my favorite thing I've seen Michael Landon appear in. I've never been much of a fan, but he gives a nice performance. In fact, everyone involved gives a good accounting of themselves. So despite the incredibly awful song "Eeny Meenie Minie Moe" (someone should be flogged for that abomination), I'm giving I Was a Teenage Werewolf a slightly better than average rating of 6/10.

6/10

The Vampire (1957)

A very satisfying film, 6 October 2007

Dr. Campbell is a sick man. Just before he dies, he gives a bottle of tablets to Dr. Paul Beecher (Paul Beal). Quite by accident, Paul takes one of the pills thinking it's his migraine medication. The pills were part of Dr. Campbell's work on mind regression to a more primitive state and were made from the blood of the vampire bat. Paul immediately becomes addicted to the pills and begins taking one each night. Coinciding with Paul addiction, people in town begin dying mystery deaths. Each has strange bite marks on their necks. Paul begins to suspect himself, but surely Paul's suspicions can't be true. Are the pills turning him into some kind of vampire?

While I don't think it's quite as good as his later film The Return of Dracula, Paul Landres' The Vampire is still a solid little horror film that takes much of the existing vampire mythology and stands it on its head. For example, the creature in The Vampire isn't the suave, cape-wearing, seducer that we've all become familiar with over the years. Here, the creature is a primitive being that seeks blood for survival. It is more bat-like in appearance and action. I'm not saying that one interpretation is better than the other, I just appreciate the difference.

There's a lot to like about The Vampire. I love the way the film introduces an element of horror into an otherwise safe and comfortable Leave It to Beaver type setting. The contrast is interesting. And I for one appreciate the make-up effects. I realize they were done "on the cheap", but I found them very eerie. Landres direction is solid. He keeps things interesting without a lapse during the movies runtime. But the area I find the most enjoyable in The Vampire is the acting. Everyone involved gives a performance far better than you would expect from a film of this type. As others have noted, Paul Beal gives real outstanding first-rate performance.

Overall, The Vampire is a very satisfying film. I look forward to revisiting it for years to come.

7/10

The Land Unknown (1957)

"It is true that you can't live among beasts without becoming one.", 15 September 2007

While doing some scientific explorations of Antarctica, four scientists are forced to make an emergency landing in a volcanic crater. Beneath the perpetual cloud cover at the volcano rim, they discover a warm and humid land that hasn't changed in centuries. They discover a world full of strange dinosaurs and carnivorous plants. While trying to repair their helicopter, they discover something else – the existence of at least one other human. Will this unknown man help them or is he as savage as the rest of the world in which they find themselves?

As far as a movie about modern man trapped in a prehistoric world goes, The Land Unknown is about average. I really wanted to like this one more, but rating it a 5/10 is about the best I can do. For the most part, the film is well paced and director Virgil Vogel keeps things interesting. But even at 78 minutes in length, The Land Unknown is not without an excessive amount of padding – especially at the beginning. Other than the giant T-Rex, the dinosaur effects are surprisingly strong. I was especially impressed with the dinosaur who lived in the water (sorry, I'm no dinosaur expert so I'm not sure what kind of dino they were going for). Very nicely done. And the sets, from the imaginative plant life to the wonderful matte paintings, make the movie look much better than it should. But as good as that special effects were, the previously mentioned T-Rex is pitiful. It's just laughably bad. It's one of the most obvious man-in-a-suit monsters I can remember seeing. And as with seemingly everything else, the acting is hit-or-miss at best. No one really stands out and Shirley Patterson comes across as plain old annoying.

In the end, I'm glad I finally had the opportunity to catch The Land Unknown. Even with some of the problems I had with the movie, it's one I plan to revisit in the future. An average Universal film from the 50s is still better than many of the alternatives.

5/10

The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent (1957)

"See how the Storm God licks his lips at the coming feast!", 4 September 2007

I'll try, but I'm not sure I can write a plot summary that's as long as that crazy title. A band of Viking women set out in search of their missing Viking men. Along the way, they run into a sea serpent and a whirlpool (I'm not really sure how it all happened. The women meet this really horrible looking sea serpent that terrorizes them when all of a sudden, they are being pulled into a whirlpool. Are the two things related? – Honestly, I don't know.) The Viking women find themselves washed up on the shores of a strange land where they are to be slaves. They discover their men are also being held as slaves and are working in the mines. Can the women free the men and escape to their homeland?

The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent (the name I actually saw the movie under) is a Roger Corman quickie – and it shows. I'd be shocked to learn that it took more than a weekend to shoot the movie. And I'd be even more shocked to find out that anyone spent more than 10 minutes writing the thing. The plot is utterly ridiculous. The sets and costumes seem to have been leftovers from other Corman movies. The special effects in the form of the sea serpent are as low rent as you'll likely run across. And the acting, with the exception of Susan Cabot, is nothing to write home about. Overall, not one of Corman's better early efforts.

And to make matters worse, The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent does not make for a very good episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 either. I cannot remember laughing even once. Very much below average and worthy of a 2/5 on my MST3K rating scale. (However, the short that precedes the movie in Episode 317 called "The Home Economics Story" is often laugh-out-loud funny. I'd give the short a 4/5 on its own.)

3/10

Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)

"We are unquestionably on the brink of a great discovery.", 4 September 2007

A second research team is sent to explore a remote island and discover what happened to the first research team that disappeared without a trace. The second team finds an island that is slowly being destroyed from within. But when they begin hearing the voices of some of their colleagues from the first research team, it seems that something extraordinary is at work on the little island. What strange mutations have the nearby atomic bomb tests brought to the island? The answer comes soon enough when giant crabs are discovered that have a taste for human flesh.

For a movie made on a budget of about what I would spend on a ham sandwich at lunch, Attack of the Crab Monsters is actually quite good. It's not great by any stretch of the imagination, but it is entertaining enough. Roger Corman does a whole lot with what seems to be so very little. And the most amazing part is how surprisingly effective the special effects are. The giant crabs look like . . . well, they look like giant crabs. Compared with some of the other creatures in these low budget movies from the 50s like Corman's own It Conquered the World, this seems to have been no small feat. The plot is interesting and held my attention to the very end. It wasn't until the last moments of the movie that I had any idea how the creatures were going to be defeated. Finally, while Russell Johnson of Gilligan's Island fame is the only name in the cast I recognized, the acting is at least adequate. Other than a couple of lame accents, no one is particularly bad.

Overall, I think a 6/10 is about right.

6/10

Zero Hour! (1957)

"Our survival hinges on one thing - finding someone who not only can fly this plane, but didn't have fish for dinner.", 22 August 2007

It's like déjà vu all over again. Until last night, I had never seen Zero Hour!, but I feel as if I've seen it a dozen times. I knew that some of Airplane! (the sick girl and singing nun for example) came from Airport, but I had no idea just how much was taken from Zero Hour! Airplane! is like some weird comedic remake or re-imaging of Zero Hour! – and they nailed it right down to the exclamation mark. And it's not just ideas or concepts that were taken from Zero Hour!, entire sections of dialogue were lifted and used in Airplane! I'm shocked to discover that lines like "I guess I picked the wrong week to give up smoking" weren't written especially for Airplane! The dialogue is so similar that when little Joey visits the cockpit and the captain asks if he's ever been in cockpit before, I kept waiting for him to ask "Have you ever seen a grown man naked?" as he does in Airplane! Even some of the performances in Airplane! are eerily reminiscent of Zero Hour! Take Robert Stack in the role originally done by Sterling Hayden. Amazing stuff! The funny thing to me about this example, however, is that Hayden is actually more intense in the role than Stack could have dreamed.

Giving a rating to Zero Hour! is difficult. Even if you've only seen Airplane! once (and I've probably seen it a couple of dozen times over the years), it's all but impossible to keep a straight face (Who am I kidding? It's impossible not to downright laugh out loud.) when Johnny goes to make coffee or when Stryker straights sweating buckets behind the controls of the plane. It's impossible to take the melodrama of Zero Hour! seriously. So I don't know how I would rate the movie had I never seen Airplane! I would like to think I would have still enjoyed the experience and would have formed a similar opinion. But I have seen Airplane!, so I have that built in bias. In the end, because the movie kept me entertained (for whatever reason) throughout it's brief 81 minute runtime, I'm rating Zero Hour! a 7/10.

7/10

The Undead (1957)

"All the Kings horses and all the Kings men cannot put the witches together again", 15 July 2007

Through hypnosis, a woman is able to visit a previous life where she is to be put to death for being a witch – a charge of which she is innocent. But if she is able to change her fate and avoid the executioner's ax, what will that mean for her future? How will changing history affect the present?

Come on people! While The Undead does present a few interesting ideas and a couple of entertaining moments, it's not worthy of the praise it has received in many of the reviews on IMDb. I started to think that maybe all these people watched a different movie. The Undead is a low-budget Roger Corman quickie that's just not very good regardless of what Leonard Maltin thinks. I just don't get it. When one of the most positive aspects of the film I can think of is the fit of Allison Hayes' outfits, you can get a good idea of my thoughts on the movie. My 4/10 is incredibly generous.

4/10

The Unearthly (1957)

A mad scientist's work is never done, 5 July 2007

I really appreciate and admire the effort the mad scientists of the 40s and 50s put into their work. Always injecting mysterious fluids and exposing bodies to different types of radiation in the pursuit of some "noble" purpose. They were so single minded in their focus that noting could get in their way. So what if their test subjects were dying or turning into hideous monsters, it was the experiment that was important. John Carradine plays just this kind of scientist in The Unearthly. He hopes by adding a new gland to a human body that he can find the secret of immortality. It helps that he has a house full of patients who know nothing of his experiments, but are there for rest and relaxation. Of course (and as expected) something goes wrong with each experiment resulting in a variety of monsters living in the doctor's basement. Also (and as could be predicted) one of the patients is on to the doctor and plans to put a stop to his experiments.

To a certain degree, if you've seen one of these low-budget mad scientist films, you've seen 'em all. The Unearthly is really no better or worse than most of the others. It's hampered by the same budget constraints, lack of original ideas, weak script, and gigantic plot holes that plague a lot of these movies. On the plus side, The Unearthly has quite a decent cast with Carradine, b-movie favorite Allison Hayes, Playmate Sally Todd, and Miss America 1946 Marilyn Buferd. Also, he may not have been much of an actor, but Tor Johnson does have a certain screen presence. In my mind, the negatives outweigh the positives resulting in the (generous) 4/10 rating.

Unfortunately, The Unearthly doesn't make for one of the better Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes I've seen. The jokes really felt flat. I cannot remember laughing at much of any of it. I'll give The Unearthly a 2/5 on my MST3K rating scale - find another episode to put on your "to see" list.

4/10

The Deadly Mantis (1957)

"There is no more deadly or voracious creature than the Preying Mantis.", 23 April 2007

The Deadly Mantis is another of the big bug sci-fi movies that the studios were putting out in the 1950s. While these movies have a lot in common, not all big bug movies were created equally. Even though The Deadly Mantis does have a point or two in its favor (special effects, etc.), overall it's just not as good as similar movies. One problem is the lack of originality. The Deadly Mantis comes toward the end of big bug cycle. The better movies of this type had already been made. When you consider the number of other big animal movies that were made in the 1950s, it's little wonder why The Deadly Mantis doesn't feel very original. It's the same tired plot line that was pulled out and used over and over – a giant mantis destroys a few buildings, kills a few helpless citizens, and generally terrorizes a populace. If you were to substitute the mantis for the tarantula and the Arctic for the desert, The Deadly Mantis and Tarantula become very similar movies.

Another real problem is the first 15 or so minutes of the movie. It's pure, Grade-A, unadulterated U.S. government propaganda. I've read that the U.S. wanted to make sure that the Soviets knew that the country's northern border with Canada was more than adequately protected against a surprise attack across the North Pole. So for what seems to be a good portion of the movie, we're treated to maps of Canada's northern most territory, a voice droning on about the hard work of building and maintaining the radar stations, and a variety of stock footage. While it's reasonably interesting in that 50s Red Scare sort of way, it does nothing for the movie.

So, if you really want to see a big bug movie from the 50s, check out either Them! or Tarantula. While The Deadly Mantis certainly isn't the worst movie you'll ever see, there are much better examples of this genre available to be watched.

5/10

The Amazing Colossal Man (1957)

"Man Lives Through Plutonium Blast", 25 March 2007

During a plutonium bomb test, Lt. Col. Glenn Manning (Glenn Langan) finds himself in the open and absorbs much of the force of the blast. Even though 95% of the skin on his body is burnt away, the bomb doesn't kill him. Doctors work tirelessly to keep him alive. Miraculously and in no time at all, not only is Manning out of danger, his body seems completely healed – no burns and no scars. Surely the plutonium had something to do with Manning's recovery. But what other side effects does Manning face form his plutonium exposure? As Manning begins a slow but steady growth to gargantuan proportions, the side effects become quite obvious.

Bert I. Gordon made a lot of movies that can best be described as trash. I might have a good time with them, but I realize there not very good. That's not the case with The Amazing Colossal Man. I honestly think it's a decent enough movie. I realize that my judgment may be clouded by the fact that this is one of the very first movies I remember seeing. There's no accounting for nostalgia. And, I realize that today some of my enjoyment comes from scenes that fit the "so bad it's good" definition (Manning's trip to Las Vegas and the giant hypodermic needle obviously come to mind), but there are other moments that work for me as intended. For example, I think Manning's descent in to madness is well done. Whatever the reason, I find more good, enjoyable moments in The Amazing Colossal Man than I do bad, dull moments and have no trouble rating the movie a 6/10.

But please, don't take my rating as some sort of recommendation. There are too many problems that even I can see for me to tout The Amazing Colossal Man as a "must see". If you decide to give it chance, don't blame me if you don't immediately move it into your top ten. To begin with, the special effects are weak – not only by today's standards, but by the standards of 1957. The rear projection scenes are quite badly done. In addition, some of the acting is just as bad as the special effects. Other than Langan, no one in the cast comes out looking very good. Finally, the movie is full of padding. The Amazing Colossal Man may only be 80 minutes in length, but a good part of the runtime is taken by Dr. Linstrom (William Hudson) spouting scientific theories at any given opportunity. My favorite is the "single cell" heart theory. And to make the padding even more obvious, he repeats the same scientific mumbo-jumbo on more than one occasion.

6/10

The Aztec Mummy (1957)

- La momia azteca
Hopelessly Dull, 14 January 2007

After watching the first movie in BCI's new Aztec Mummy Collection, it's difficult to believe how excited I was about the set and how upset I was when the release date was pushed back. I've watched a lot of Mexican horror in recent months. Some great – The Curse of the Crying Woman. Some entertaining despite obvious flaws – Night of the Bloody Apes. And some Cheesy – Pick any Santo movie. One thing that all these movies have in common is that none can be called "dull". Well, that's not the case with The Aztec Mummy. It's been awhile since I last watched something so sleep inducing. I wasn't hoping for or expecting a great movie, but at least entertain me! The Aztec Mummy takes every situation that could be interesting and sucks the life out of it through repeated scenes of people doing nothing and then extending those scenes for what fells like an eternity. I guess that's what happens when you make an 80 minute movie with only 30 minutes of material. Padding extraordinaire! For example, for anyone who has seen the movie, what purpose does The Bat have other than to bring a masked wrestler type to the screen and to extend the runtime by 15 or so pointless minutes?

I can only hope that the other two movies in The Collection are more entertaining than this one.

3/10

Night of the Demon (1957)

- Curse of the Demon
"It's in the trees! It's coming!", 23 August 2006

Being a fan of classic horror, I'm almost embarrassed to admit that this was my first viewing of Night of the Demon as it is very nearly the perfect horror film. It's got everything I could ask for. Instead of going into detail on everything that works, I'll give the laundry list of highlights: an interesting premise, an intelligently written script, good acting, atmosphere you can cut with a knife, nail-biting suspense, beautiful cinematography, and touches of humor that add to rather than take away from the film. There is nothing that I would change about the movie. And that includes director Jacques Tourneur being forced to show the demon. I think the demon scenes are nicely done and do not take anything away from Night of the Demon. Contrary to a couple of reviews I've read, they're not "cheesy" in the least. In fact, the demon is downright frightening. While I admit that the film might have been even better had the demon's image been left to the imagination, it's there. Just enjoy it for what it is.

10/10

The Abominable Snowman (1957)

"They are in danger, all of them, from their own actions.", 5 March 2006

The Abominable Snowman treats its subject matter with the kind of respect usually reserved for something far more serious than a low-budget film about the mythical Yeti. It would have been easy to allow the whole production to sink to the level of exploitation, but it never does. The horror is subdued and really only surfaces in the final act. The movie is not without its creepy moments as the men fear for their lives in an alien landscape of ice and mountains. The remainder of the intelligent script focuses on the relationship between the scientist and the showman and asks the question "Who is the real monster?"

The Abominable Snowman is an unusually subdued movie from The Studio that Dripped Blood. Released the same year as The Curse of Frankenstein and a year before Horror of Dracula, The Abominable Snowman lacks the garish colors and the bright red blood that helped to make Hammer so famous. It may lack what I call the Hammer Color, but it's one of the best looking Hammer films I've seen. It was filmed in beautiful black and white and the cinematography is stunning. The stage-bound sets are some of the best I've seen. When combined, these elements create the perfect, frigid look and setting for The Abominable Snowman.

Director Val Guest made the wise decision to keep the Yeti off-screen as much as possible with only a glimpse or two in the shadows. It would have been difficult, given the budgetary constraints, to create realistic looking Yeti that could have withstood too much on-screen scrutiny. Anymore screen-time and the Yeti would have probably come off as cheesy as the title character in Hammer's The Gorgon.

And I can't say enough about the acting. Everyone involved is excellent. You can always count on Peter Cushing to deliver the goods and he's at the top of his game in this film. It's a shame that his genius isn't more well known outside of horror circles. Forrest Tucker makes a great foil for Cushing. The two men make the perfect "Odd Couple". The rest of the cast is equally believable and more than up to the challenge.

8/10